Credentials include identification cards, driver's licenses, passports, and other documents. Such credentials are formed from credential substrates including paper substrates, plastic substrates, cards and other materials. Such credentials generally include printed information, such as a photo, account numbers, identification numbers, and other personal information. A secure overlaminate may also be laminated to the surfaces of the credential substrate to protect the surfaces from damage and, in some instances, provide a security feature (e.g., hologram). Additionally, credentials can include data that is encoded in a smartcard chip, a magnetic stripe, or a barcode, for example.
It is desirable to provide customers with affordable credential manufacturing devices that meet their particular needs. While most customers will desire a set of basic features, such as credential substrate printing, some clients will demand more features, such as a substrate flipping, encoding and laminating.
To that end, it is desirable to provide substrate rotating, encoding and/or other substrate processing functions in a modular or add-on device that can be attached to an existing stand-alone credential manufacturing device to expand its functionality. Such a modular system allows customers to customize their credential manufacturing system to their particular needs and avoid paying for unnecessary substrate processing functions.
Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.